Hello! I'm Chris Schneider (aka Schmed). Welcome to my home page.
Hello! I'm Chris Schneider (aka Schmed). Welcome to my home page.
As I mostly work from home, that's the best place to start looking for me.
Send all snail-mail to me there at:
Chris Schneider
10491 Boulder Street
Nevada City, CA 95959-2626
The internet start-up company that I've been working at part-time for the past year has finally emerged from beta testing and our new search engine is finally available to programmers worldwide. Want to incorporate an OpenSource widget instead of re-inventing the wheel? Need to find an example of somebody else using that obscure API? How about a look at the implementation of a library that doesn't seem to be operating the way you were expecting? Have any idea what I'm talking about? Yes? Oh, you're such a geek, but you're just the kind of geek we're looking for. Don't get stuck, side-tracked, or frustrated by your question. Stay in "the zone", Krugle It!
Jenna Duff Krugler was constructed from a single cell a few years ago by our good friends Ken & Chris Krugler. As you can see for yourself, she is indeed the cutest child in recorded history. I should probably post a more current picture, but I'm sort of busy playing with her right now. Click here for a complete photographic record of her lifetime.
Flying squirrel!
Here are some interesting news items from the past few years. Warning - I haven't bothered to update any of this text (e.g., you don't need to worry about Cindy commuting to Stanford anymore.)
I teach physics at Bitney Springs. Our science program has a unique organization, where each scientific discipline (physics, chemistry, biology and geology) is divided into two semesters of study. This means that I only have to teach a single semester of physics each year, and I alternate between Physics 1 and Physics 2. Check out my classroom site.
The culture at Bitney Springs is exceptionally close knit, with the emphasis on developing meaningful personal relationships between the staff and students (motto: "a place where students are known, respected, and educated"). There are only about 110 kids, and as a public charter school the faculty is given the freedom to explore our curricular passions. In order to help form and develop our unique community, we take the entire school on "Discovery Week" every year, which can mean anything from a whole school campout to small group trips (surfing at Laguna Beach, backpacking through Desolation Wilderness, etc.)
Cindy and I were married on May 24th, 1992 in an old growth redwood forest along the Avenue of the Giants. Many of our guests stayed at the few Victorian B&B's left standing in historic Ferndale (an earthquake shook up the town two weeks before the wedding). Cindy's an RN at Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, on a Medical-Surgical unit.
Cindy has once again exercised a woman's perogative and decided to change her name. No, not from "Cindi Branscum" to "Cindi Schneider" (not that I'd want her to), but instead from "Cindi Branscum" to "Cindy Branscum". I held out as long as I possibly could, but I finally agreed to change her email address, update this web page, etc.
Schneider => Schneidly => Schmedly => Schmed
The name stuck, and I considered myself fairly lucky not to end up with "Skippy," "Flounder," or "Coma"
Since Chris is a fairly common name on an Ultimate team, I decided to start using Schmed on the field as well. My partner Ken's wife is named Chris as well, and after she started working on one of our projects, clients have started calling me Schmed. Perhaps this has gone too far...
Ultimate combines the passing game of American Football with the give and go ballet of Basketball, and then extends both by using a projectile that can itself be taught to dance. Ultimate is a non-contact sport where the Spirit of the Game is taken so seriously that officials are only required at the absolute highest levels of competition. Ultimate is quite simply the most exciting, in-your-face game played anywhere on the planet. I've competed on several Bay Area teams (one made it to Regionals, and the first West Coast Masters team came in third at Nationals in 1991.) The Ultimate Players Association has a ton of cool Ultimate graphics, info, etc.
I started an Ultimate team at Bitney Springs High School, where I teach physics. The kids are very enthusiastic, but our 115 student school is a very tiny pool from which to select world class athletes. Check out the team's web page.
There's a local pickup game at Pioneer Park (currently on Thursdays and Sundays at 5:30pm) with adult players in the Nevada City/Grass Valley area. If you're also in the area, you might want to join our email list:
"Climbing is a joyous, instinctive activity; unless restrained, most children will scurry up trees, garden walls, building facades, and anything else steep and enticing. While society, in the form of parents, teachers, and the law, discourages these activities, some determined individuals persist and eventually find their way to the mountains." - Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills.
I've been climbing mountains ever since I finally escaped from a frustrated childhood in Florida. I learned winter backpacking from Mike Bromberg and other members of the Vulgarian Ramblers Mountaineering Club (VRMC) while I was at MIT. We still get together every summer to climb in the Sierra, Cascades, Rocky Mountains, or elsewhere in the West. We're peak baggers for the most part, favoring mixed alpine climbing. We bring gourmet delicacies to savor on each and every summit.
I've compiled the Official Vulgarian Ramblers list of all the mountains in California at least 13,000 feet tall. To my knowledge, this represents the most complete and accurate listing of California's high peaks. I don't even want to think about how much money I could have made consulting during those six months instead.
Check out pictures from last summer's tour.
I occasionally lose it and vent on a variety of topics. If you're interested in my political or other viewpoints, have a look.
Project Vote Smart - These guys force political candidates to answer issue-based questionnaires so you can base your vote on more than posturing. An absolute must before voting.
Sierra Club - Consider the prospect of explaining to your great-grandchildren why the environment didn't seem very important to you back in 2006.
Natural Resources Defense Council - Arguably the most effective environmental organization.
Rocky Mountain Institute - A research group that focuses on environmentally sustainable living. Starting to notice a pattern?
Astronomy Picture of the Day - Why not check out a completely different part of the cosmos every day of the year?
JTrack Satellite Tracker - A real time animation of all the objects currently in orbit.
Recent Earthquakes - Find out what's shaking in California and Nevada.
TransPac Software - My software company.
Please e-mail comments regarding this web site to: schmed@transpac.com.
© 1998-2007, Chris Schneider. All Rights Reserved World Wide.
Last updated 24 December 2007